The present invention concerns efficient data transfer and pertains particularly to efficient data transfer during computing system manufacturing and installation.
During the manufacture of a computing system, computer software is often pre-loaded into a storage device of the computer. For example the software is loaded into a hard disk storage device.
Downloading data into a storage device can take a significant amount of time. For example, currently 600 megabytes or more of software may be loaded into a typical computing system and the trend is towards an increasing amount of software. Using local area network (LAN) based data transfer, it can take a significant amount of time to download and install the necessary files into a computing system.
Increasingly, to limit the amount of time required to prepare a computing system, image-based data transfer is used. In image-based data transfer, individual files are ignored. Instead, the entire contents of a storage medium (such as a floppy disk, a CD ROM, a hard disk or a hard disk partition) is overwritten with an image. The image is taken after the operating system and other software have been installed on the system.
For example, Norton Ghost, available from Symantec Corporation having a business address of 10201 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, Calif. 95014-2128, creates an exact image of a hard disk. This is effectively a xe2x80x9csnapshotxe2x80x9d of all the files of the hard disk, even those that are hidden. These files include all the files that together set out the operating system, applications, and configuration settings. The snap shot image can be transferred to any other hard drive (or partition of a hard drive), CD ROM or other storage device. This allows simple creation of completely identical software installations. Copying in this way to computing systems can reduce the time required for operating system setup of each computing system by 90% or more.
One problem with using image-based data transfer is that updating even one file requires regeneration of the entire image. This can be a problem when the manufacturing site where software is installed is geographically distant from the location where software development occurs. For example, retransmission of 500 megabytes over thousands of miles can be both time-consuming as well as introducing uncertainty as to data integrity after the transfer.
Additionally, image-based data transfer significantly limits flexibility in varying the contents of installed software. A user may desire a computer installed with applications software that is targeted towards a particular use. Additionally, operating system software installed on a computing system may require different sets of hardware drivers depending upon the hardware within the computing system. Image-based data transfer allows very little flexibility in installing software for a variety of uses.
In accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention software installation is performed into computing systems. Software to be installed is transferred from a software provider to a manufacturer. The operating system software is transferred in image-based format. Hardware specific software is transferred in file-based format. The manufacturer installs the software into the computing systems.
In one preferred embodiment, the operating system software is installed into the computing systems using image-based format data transfer. The hardware specific software is installed into the computing systems using file-based format data transfer. For example, application software is included in an image that includes the operating system software, or is transferred along with the hardware specific software.
In various embodiments of the invention, multiple operating system software bundles are transferred to the manufacturer. Each multiple operating system software bundle is, for example, in image-based format. Multiple hardware specific software bundles also can be transferred to the manufacturer. The manufacturer selects which of the multiple operating system bundles and which of the hardware specific software bundles to install into each computing system. The manufacturer installs the selected software bundles into the computing systems. In these embodiments of the invention, the multiple hardware specific bundles may be transferred, for example, in file-based format. Also, multiple application software bundles can be transferred to the manufacturer. The manufacturer, for example, selects which of the multiple application software bundles to install into each computing system.
In alternative embodiments of the present invention, the manufacturer installs software by first partitioning storage media of the computing system into a first partition and a second partition. The manufacturer installs software bundles into the second partition. Each software bundle is stored in form as an image. The manufacturer also installs bootable software and a user interface into the first partition. The bootable software and the user interface, when run, operate to receive from a user a selection as to which of the software bundles to install in the computing system. The software bundle selected by the user is installed into the first partition while overwriting the bootable software and the user interface. After installation of the software bundle selected by the user, the bootable software, for example, erases the installation software bundles in the second partition. This is done, for example, by overwriting the second partition with a blank file system.